"Yourself ordered me to speak, and I shall not be silent till I have told you all. Yes, I despise you, because, instead of respecting a poor girl whom you, coward as you are, carried off from her relations and friends you, torture her, and become her executioner. I despise you, because you are a man without a soul; an old man who might be my father, and yet you do not blush to ask me to love you, under some ignoble pretext of my resemblance with some woman I have no doubt you killed." "Carmela!" "Lastly, I despise you, because you are a furious brute, who only possess one human feeling, 'the love of murder!' because there is nothing sacred in your sight, and if I was weak enough to consent to your wishes, you would make me die of despair, by taking a delight in breaking my heart." "Take care, Carmela!" he exclaimed furiously, as he advanced a step toward her. "What, threats!" she continued in a loud voice. "Do I not know that all is ready prepared for my punishment. Summon your slaves, Master, and bid them torture me! But know this, I will never consent to obey you. I am not so abandoned as you may feel inclined to suppose; I have friends I love, and who love me in return. Make haste, for who knows whether I may not be liberated tomorrow, if you do not kill me to day?" "Oh, this is too much," the White Scalper said in a low and inarticulate voice, "so much audacity shall not pass unpunished. Ah! you reckon, foolish child, on your friends! But they are far away," he said with a bitter laugh; "we are safe here, and I shall make you yield to my will." "Never!" she exclaimed with exaltation, and rushing toward him, she stopped almost within grasp, adding,-- "I defy you, coward who threaten a woman!" "Help!" the White Scalper exclaimed, with a tiger yell. All at once the window was noisily burst open and Tranquil entered. "I think you called, Señor?" he said, as he leaped into the room and advanced with a firm and measured step. "My father! My father!" the poor girl shrieked, as she threw herself into his arms with delight; "you are come at last!" The White Scalper, utterly astonished and startled by the unexpected appearance of the hunter, looked around him in alarm, and could not succeed in regaining his coolness. The Canadian, after lovingly replying to the maiden's warm greeting, laid her gently on the hammock, and then turned to the White Scalper, who was beginning to come to himself again. "I ask your pardon, Señor," he said with perfect ease, "for not having advised you of my visit; but you are aware we are on delicate terms, and, as it is possible that if I had written, you would not have received me, I preferred bringing matters to the point." "And pray what may you want with me, Señor?" the Scalper drily asked.